You’ve chosen five of your favourite things you’ve shot. Tell us about what you chose and why.

David St George (DSG): Much of my work is people focussed, so I’ve picked projects that reflect that human element within architecturally designed spaces. Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 is a career highlight for me so far. [Te Kāhui Whaihanga] NZIA commissioned me to document the Future Islands exhibition as well as opening week activities and events at the New Zealand pavilion, and the wider Biennale event. The week itself was mostly a blur of days spent shooting colourful characters and sights, and nights editing for social media, and the resulting images have been widely published.

Penumbral Reflections by PAC Studio was a series of work documenting Sarosh Mulla and Aaron Paterson’s crossover work exploring architectural thought and abstract sculpture. The work was lit in a dynamic way, so shooting the work’s different aspects whilst also portraying people’s reactions and interactions with the work presented a complex challenge.

My introduction to Isthmus Group came about through my work for their book Coast. Country. Neighbourhood. City. (edited by Michael Barrett). The initial series of shoots required photographing around Hobsonville Point and has resulted in an ongoing series of shoots documenting the development from 2015 through to the present. Shooting the Habitat Markers was an unexpected delight. This combination of documenting both the architectural environment and the way people interact with it continued with an ongoing series of work for Britomart Group. The iconic buildings and continually changing artworks continue to provide inspiring opportunities for both day and night images.

One of my favourite projects this year has been photographing the new ferry terminal on Auckland’s waterfront. Isthmus Group’s brief was to comprehensively document the many artistic elements integrated into the work, as well as conveying a sense of space and place on Auckland’s waterfront.

Another aspect of my work is documenting people and creative processes in architecture studios. The selections featured here are from ArchitectureNow‘s own On the Rise series. It’s a curious aspect when photographing within a documentary tradition that your subjects must be so completely familiar with you that you disappear completely. I think I must camouflage quite well.

Your portfolio covers a really wide range of subjects. What is different about shooting an architectural project?

DSG: I’m not sure I’d call it a difference, but the emphasis on light and timing is critical. I use natural light so I need to be careful and deliberate about how the light illuminates the object or space that I am trying to photographically communicate.

The other aspect is making sure that the photo library resulting from the shoot covers all the bases required. I find that my architectural clients really closely engage with the work that I shoot for them, so having an understanding of the story that they’re telling through my images is really critical.

One aspect that intrigues me is that the dominant paradigm at the moment is towards clean and straightforward image compositions. For me, it presents a dual challenge: producing work that looks distinctive within that set of rules and also breaking those rules when I can to impart a sense of presence to the resulting work.

How do you approach shooting an architecture project? Where do you start?

DSG: It generally starts with the client making contact and letting me know their initial ideas. For maybe 90 per cent of my work I’m dealing with clients who are familiar with my approach and general look, so I’ll make sure I have a good understanding of their needs and if there are any practical aspects (e.g. publication deadlines) that I need to work within.

Various explorations on Google Earth then follow, using the time slider to see how the sun is positioned at particular times. After that, it’s mainly a case of getting stuck in and seeing what arises out of the scenes as I shoot them. I value spontaneity and synchronicity, so there’s a bit of an art to controlling the aspects you can control, and being in a zen-like state of ‘no mind’ and being ready for opportunities when they arise. Of course, during the editing process you re-impose that sense of control, and return to the brief and make sure all aspects are covered.

One approach I’ve grown quite fond of is to split projects into at least two photo sessions, with time for the client to review the first series and give me some feedback before I go back to round out the collection.

You can also often be found bopping around events like the NZIA Awards, Objectspace openings and the Interior Awards. What is your favourite part about documenting these events?

DSG: Bopping? Ha! I had to google that. A couple of aspects stick out – firstly, a documentary approach to photographing an event will always highlight the relationships between people and the event space architecture so there’s a nice compliment there between the different skills of capturing decisive moments of human interaction but also using spaces as a compositional framing element.

The second aspect is photographing events that your clients attend is a great way to stay in touch and relevant! I used to worry about being typecast as an event photographer but now I think the architecture/design and art worlds I photograph in and around recognise the value in versatility.

How have you been filling your time during this lockdown? What’s been keeping you inspired?

DSG: As a proud Aucklander, this is lockdown number 5, and it has been the absolute pinnacle of creative inspiration at every moment. I’m hashtag blessed.

I’m lying, of course.

I appreciate that the lockdowns have affected everyone in different ways. For me, the experience is one of crashing from being flat out busy to having every project (big and small) cancelled or postponed within a couple of days. I’m also in a bubble of exactly one human, so daily resolutions are required to not to be a full-time doom scroller (I deleted Twitter last week) and to make a point of booking chats with friends and family to maintain sanity.

In terms of photography - there are always opportunities to teach yourself new things, so I’ve been exploring colour theory and investigating some new colour grading techniques that transform an often chaotically colourful palette that reality serves up to something more limited and refined. I’m also looking at ways to utilise a sense of movement in my images, both through intentional camera movement and with looped cinemagraphs.

See more of David’s work at dstgeorge.com. And, see more from the Viewfinder series here.